


Don't Freeze Me Out

by theKirin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety Disorder, Blood and Injury, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Multi, Step-parents, Step-siblings, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 23:39:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8180113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theKirin/pseuds/theKirin
Summary: Lance and Hunk are the party planning committee and plan an outdoor ice skating party in December for the whole student body.They discreetly send Keith a personal invitation.Keith doesn’t want to go.There’s lots of stupid arguing.There’s a lot of Pidge and Keith brotp happening.  Shiro is there too.Lance has a secret.Keith almost dies.





	

Dark feathery hair laid peacefully against the ice and snow as Keith opened his eyes.  Striking jewel-tones of lilac and blue were exaggerated against the light of day and its reflection off of the winter wonderland.  His fair skin was reddened with the cold.  
Keith was very disoriented, but strangely peaceful as he lifted the side of his face off the burning cold ground.  What was he doing on the floor?  Why was he taking a nap outside?  Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice, both uncharacteristically urgent and anxious.  
”Keith!  Don’t move!!”  
And then there was a sound.  It started like a low growl and escalated to a whine, and then a booming, ominous  
CRACK.  
The ice failed him.

______________________________

Earlier that week:  
In spite of the way he shivered, and squeezed his mittened hands tightly together, huddling his arms tight against his chest, Keith actually liked the Wintertime.  This could have been because it was the only time of year people seemed to like to stay inside their own houses and leave him alone.  Everyone he ran into was cheerful, but didn’t require much conversation, all happily busy with their holiday plans.  
And when he’d had enough of normal people and their holiday cheer, he could always count on his step sister to say it like it is, and Bah Humbug a smile onto his face.  She was great.  She was clever, and adorable, and despite what everyone had told him about the fresh hell having a new step sister would be like, he undeniably loved her.

With a casual but genuine half smile, Keith returned home to see her in her usual place on the couch, laptop and blanket covering her legs, busily typing away.  The reflection of the monitor against her glasses amused him, but he didn’t bother turning the light on.    
As he began to shuffle off his winter things, coat, gloves, hat, -he asked her,  
“What’d I miss?”  To which she replied, without moving her gaze,   
“This wikipedia article is wrong, but it won’t let me change it.”  Her sandy-blonde eyebrows furrowed a little at the screen.  Keith already knew if Pidge couldn’t figure it out, he didn’t have much chance of helping her.  Peering over her shoulder a bit, he let his curiosity win-out over helpfulness.  
“What article?”  He asked, and finally Pidge tilted her head back only briefly, in a half attempt to make eye contact before returning to her screen.

“They’re saying elasmotherium became extinct three hundred years before modern man, but that was only in the Western hemisphere.  We have first-hand documents from explorers in the 18th century in Asia that describe the beast perfectly!  With sketches!  This should be totally obvious!”  
Keith scrunched one cheek, looking at the picture of the creature in the article.  Cryptozoology was something they both had at least a passing interest in, but Keith was never good with names.  
“Elasmo-what-ium?”  
“THER-ium.”  
“Right whatever.”  Keith answered, leaning closer to the monitor, to Pidge’s obvious annoyance.  His focus sharpened.  “Pidge.. I gotta tell you something.”  
Her expression suddenly sobered in curiosity as she looked at him.  
“What?”    
“You’re absolutely right.  And nobody cares.”  He gave her a pat on the back as he got up, and started to rummage through cabinets for hot chocolate, -with a dash of cayenne pepper.

Pidge rolled her eyes and smiled, turning back to her ‘work’.  
And she changed the subject to something Keith was definitely not expecting.  
“So who’s your girlfriend?”  She asked with an obvious teasing lilt to her voice.

That had to be a joke.  Keith openly grinned in wry amusement, almost laughing before he leaned the back of his hips against the counter, crossed his ankles and blew on his cocoa.  
“My what??”

“You heard me.”  She confirmed, and with a casual backward gesture with one finger, she pointed toward the counter space with its usual cluster of unorganized mail.  Keith got up and came forward, looking through the bills and junk, and found a charmingly light blue envelope.    
“Who sends letters?”  He asked, to which Pidge only shrugged, half paying attention while Keith drew his pocketknife and opened the letter.

He groaned and briefly dropped his head backward before tossing the letter back onto the pile and turning from it.  
“Ughhh!”

“What is it?”

“It’s just an invitation to this stupid ice skating thing this weekend.”

“You should go!”

A scoff, arms folded, as Keith looked at the wall idly.    
“Yeah.  That’s not gonna happen.”

“Why not?  You’re not doing anything.”

“You don’t know that.”  Keith replied.

“Am I wrong?”

“No.”

“Then go.”

Keith huffed.  That sounded like an awful lot of people.  And at the same time, he didn’t want to admit, he didn’t know how to skate.  Not on ice.  How can anyone skate on ice?  At least on things with wheels he knew what to expect.   On the ice, everything just slips right out from under you.  Clearly this was not Keith’s fault, everyone should be bad at ice skating, and therefor, this party was stupid.

“Well what do you care??”  He asked, his voice increasing in volume, though it was obviously not directed at Pidge.  She answered casually.

“I don’t.”  And reached over, grabbing the half eaten sandwich balancing on the back of the couch and took a bite.  
But it got Keith thinking.  Damn her.

Keith looked at the invitation again.  He’d seen flyers like this in the halls of his community college, but..  since when did they start delivering them to your house?  Curious, he squinted at it a bit.  No return address.  
“Hm.”

_________________________________

“Hunk!  Huuuuunk.  Don’t do it.  I’m serious!  give me the-!!”  
A flailing, almost wire-y body struggled against a larger, more placid one, as Hunk held the invitation aloft and out of Lance’s reach.

“Nope.  No can do.  I’ve seen you pining over this guy for months.”  He grinned, showing all his teeth, though his excitement was genuine as he leaned into the other boy’s face.  “We’ve gotta hook you two uuup~!”

Ocean-blue eyes widened and Lance’s posture went straight as a board.  His lips formed a thin line, and a slight blush crept up on his cheeks.  It took a moment, but he quickly recovered.  
“You’re out of your head!  I can’t stand that guy!!”  
“You.  Are obsessed.”  
“Yeah??  Well you’re--  Ugh, gimme that!!”  He was out of clever comeback at the moment, making another swipe for the envelope, but Hunk quickly, awkwardly smashed in into the mail slot, and slammed it shut.

The noise caused a few passerby to raise eyebrows at the scene, and Hunk stood up straight and smiled at them awkwardly, giving a little wave with his fingertips.  Lance seemed oblivious to the public disturbance they were making.  
“DUDE!  I can’t believe you just did that!!  We’re on the committee you dingus!  He’s gonna find out WE sent it!”

Hunk did his best to hush the other, using both palms facing downward in a peaceful gesture.  
“Shh. Shh.  Nobody’s going to find out anything.  Besides...”  He grinned again, giving a disgruntled Lance a couple nudges with his elbow.  “Maybe he’ll show up.. wearing a cute sweater.. his white-boy nose turned pink in the cold.  I bet he’s a great skater.  He looks graceful.”

Lance scrunched his eyes shut, refusing these images, but they took him.  
“Ptsch... shut up, Hunk.”  And Hunk giggled and batted his eyelashes playfully.

___________________________________

The next day, Keith was working.  He had a job as a cashier and bagger at the local grocery store.  The little one.  He wasn’t great with customers, but most of the time people didn’t want small-talk, they just wanted the job done, and Keith could do that.    
However, focusing on proficiency, and letting the social element run on autopilot has its risks.  As a woman was gathering her bags, and taking her receipt, the noise of the children of the people waiting in line behind her, and the fact that things had just gotten a little busier, was starting to get on Keith’s nerves.  And then the printer jammed again.  
Annoyed, Keith gave a well-learned fist-drop to the right spot on the machine, a little harder than was necessary, and as the woman stupidly blinked at him like he was dangerous, he handed her the slip of paper and blurted out, not ‘have a nice day’, but  
“Have a nice life!”  And then he froze, and slowly drew a hand to his forehead.  There was heat building against the sides on his neck and his ears.  But this intensified a million times when he heard Shiro, his manager’s voice right behind him.  
_He HEARD that??_

“Keith...”  Shiro began, with a slight tilt of the head and his brows raised in patience and a little anxiousness.  He was about to ask if the boy had been saying this regularly when Keith interrupted him, raising a hand.

“I’m sorry!  I’m sorry.  It was a mistake.  It won’t happen again.  Just a slip of the tongue, I got it.”  He sighed, and turned back to his next customer.  Behind him, Shiro drew back and called to another employee nearby, waving them to the other side.  
“Lets out you on the other register for a sec, things are picking up.”  Which was a totally logical thing for a manager to do.  Still, Keith’s shoulders dropped slightly and his eyes shifted as he worked.  Shiro had gone out on a limb to get him this job, being a family friend of theirs.  Keith hated being indebted to anyone, and he knew he could work hard, and get the job done right but... dammit why did people have to be everywhere he went?

__________________________________

When Keith got back from work, and began to peel off his hat and mittens, kicking off his boots at the heel, Pidge was right where she always was.  He smirked a little.  
“Have you moved at all since Monday?”  He asked, and she rolled her eyes.  Then, grabbing the fabric by her knee, she lifted it and pointed out,  
“Different blanket.”  As if that were proof she hadn’t been at the computer for much too long.  Keith came forward and looked over her shoulder.

“What’s that?”  
“Oh, someone thinks they got a bonafide shot of the loch ness monster.”  She leaned closer, zooming in, Keith subconsciously copied her movement.  They sat in silence a moment, both earnestly studying the image with narrowed eyes.  Finally Pidge spoke, and drew back,  “It looks like three seals swimming in tandem to me.”  And she casually reached over and drank out of her cup.  As Keith stood up, she lifted her gaze to him, and fixed her glasses, and then awkwardly avoided eye contact as she spoke.  “Oh.  And dad wants you to go with him to his office party.”

“Wait, what?”  He shook his head, not wanting to accept this.  “No way.”  
“No I’m serious.”  She said, actually pushing the laptop away to show her soberness, and turned to face him.  “We’re supposed to bring our families.  I know it will be awkward without your mom..”  She paused, not really sure how to tread in this territory.

“I’m not going.”  He said, and started to leave the room.  Pidge called after him.  “Dad’s gonna think you hate him!  If we go by ourselves and you just sit around at home doing nothing, what’s that going to look like?  ...You’ve got to come up with a good excuse!”  He paused.  Pidge was right.  Keith didn’t hate Sam.  Sam was a great guy, and he really had loved Keith’s mother.  He knew that.  
Shoulders dropped, and Keith sighed, his eyes closed.  When he opened them again, there was the invitation on the counter...  Pidge looked at the letter, and then at Keith.    
She gave him a wordless, knowing grin, and Keith winced his eyes shut.  
“I guess I’m going skating.”

________________________________

The party was surprisingly well organized, decorated, and beautiful.  It was an outdoor rink with charming Victorian lamp posts and railing around the edges.  Benches and greenery blotted with snow enclosed the space.  
The posts were decorated with greenery and ribbons and glowing white icicle lights.  Or maybe there were just icicles on the lights.  Either way, whoever organized this really knew what they were doing.  
On the far end of the path near a set of benches was a table with coffee and hot chocolate.  They even had marshmallows.

As Keith approached the table and idly flickered a loose mini marshmallow around with one finger, he wondered if the school had hired a legitimate party planner, and why they would go to so much trouble.  
“Damn tuition.  No wonder it’s so high..”

“I knowwwww, right?”  Came a familiar voice, and Keith almost startled, not realizing someone was near enough to hear him.  His surprise caused the other to blink and straighten his back awkwardly.  And then Lance forced a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head.  
“HAha!  Did I scare you?”

“I’m not scared!”  Keith’s brow furrowed, and his head dropped forward, pointedly looking at the guy.  He scanned Lance a moment, wrote him off as harmless, and went back to looking around as he answered dismissively.  
“I didn’t want to be rude.”  Which he said in reference to the idea that someone in charge of tuition or where it goes might have overhead him.  But Lance was confused.  He changed the subject. 

“Nice place, right?”  His focus followed Keith’s to the festive sight the ice, and the decor, and all the people; laughing and skating in their coats and hats, with their breath visible on the air.  With a forced casualness Lance shrugged one shoulder and said in a smooth register, “it’s not the best party I’ve thrown together on such short notice, but you gotta admit, I’ve got a gift.”

“You’ve got a what?”  Keith asked, turning to look at Lance, his brain only half listening, immediately thought Lance was speaking literally, but he quickly realized his mistake and shook his head as if to say ‘nevermind.’  And then he blinked once, and tilted his head subtly.  He lifted a finger.  
“You...  look familiar.”

Lance’s jaw dropped and he lifted one eyebrow.  Did Keith not know who he was??  
He stammered.  How DARE he not know him!  How was this possible!  Exasperated, Lance lifted clawed hands.  His voice grew louder, almost shouting, informing the guy.  
“LANCE!”  Keith shook his head, and extended his hand.    
“No, it’s Keith.”  Lance batted his hand away and dropped both fists to his hips.  Hunk noticed this from a distance, and with an ‘oh boy’  awkwardly began to shuffle his way through the people skating, and toward his friend, to help diffuse the situation.  As he was making his way over, Lance continued with his face growing ever more determined toward Keith’s face,  
“No, MY name is Lance!”  He spat out.  Keith’s brow furrowed.  Why was he being attacked?  And then it hit him.  Keith’s expression lifted, with a subtle gesture of the chin.

“Ohhhh wait.  You’re that guy in my literature class that opted out of reading The Shining, and read Emma instead.”  Ok, that did it.  Now Lance was mad.

“I didn’t CHOOSE Emma!  It was an either-or situation, and you know what??  Jack Nicholson gives me the creeps!  Any normal human being can understand that reaction!  He’s a creepy guy!”

“Jack Nicholson isn’t in the BOOK, you idiot, he’s in the movie!”

“I’ll put YOU in a book, you--!!”  

And then there was Hunk.

“Woah! Woah, ok!  Take it easy guys, no books here, just skating.  Lots of nice cool, ice to skate on.  Come on, Buddy, lets get you laced up.”  He said to Lance, pulling an arm around him and taking him to the nearest bench.  Lance only moved along with this grudgingly, glaring daggers at Keith as he was pulled away.

Keith scoffed at this, and wandered off to a less populated area of the sidewalk around the rink, and took a seat on one of the benches.  He sat and quietly watched everything as it came and went in front of him.    
Eventually, the party began to die down, and the numbers began to dwindle.  Keith looked at his watch with the busted glass, that he’d had since he was 12, and realized Sam’s office party still had another hour.  He sighed, and shifted in the seat, stuffing his hands back in his pockets, eyes wandering.

And then came Lance, gliding along the ice like a freaking swan, and hopped up onto the ledge like it was nothing.  Keith observed this, trying not to look impressed.  
But Lance was sure he must be impressed anyway.  
“You’ve been sitting there the whole time, aren’t you going to skate?”

“No.”

Lance’s expression flatlined and he dropped his shoulders, but quickly recovered.  
“Why did you come to a skating party if you weren’t even going to skate?”

“It’s none of your business.” Keith answered, and then Lance grinned, slowly, and leaned forward at the waist with his hands clasped behind his back.

“You...  don’t know how~.”  At which, Keith sat up straight and shouted defensively.

“I know how!”  .. Which was mostly accurate.  Grumpy, he leaned back on the bench, arms folded, and avoiding eye contact.  “.. I’m just not very good at it.”

“Ha!  I knew it!”  Lance beamed.

“Shut up!!”  Keith shot back defensively, but Lance was undaunted, and came forward and grabbed both of Keith’s hands, drawing him up out of the bench, much to Keith’s absolute shock.  “What are you doing??  Get off me!!”

“Come on, ya came all this way, you’ve gotta skate a little bit.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You’ll never get better if you don’t try it.”

Keith sighed. He couldn't argue that.  
Whatever.  He had another 45 minutes to kill before his ‘valid’ excuse was no longer necessary.  His last ditch effort to protest was only  
“I don’t have any skates.”  
But there was Hunk suddenly, ready, and grinning, and holding the pair of skates, in Keith’s size, by the laces and just a few inches in front of his face.  
Keith blinked.  
“Uhh.. thanx...”

On the ice, Lance came out first, and offered Keith his hand, but Keith squinted at him.  
“I can do it.”  He asserted, and took a step onto the ice, and promptly fell on his butt.  Lance, who seeing the other lose his balance had immediately reached for him, now was trying desperately hard not to laugh.  He turned away, bend over, holding his stomach.  One hand covered his mouth as little squeaks and snickers eeked out, muffled.  His eyes were shut tight.    
In which amount of time, Keith had pulled himself up to a standing position using the railing, and lifted one foot, and gave Lance a push on the backside with his skate.

Lance squealed and grabbed the railing as well, and turned, shooting Keith a glare.

“What’s your problem, Dude?  I’m just trying to help you!”  To which Keith answered with a valid enough question,

“Yeah.  Why?”  He shook his head, and his gaze wandered briefly as if that would lend him some answer.  “Why do you care if I skate or not?  What business is it of yours?  Do you get points or something for classmate participation?  Do you want me to sign something?  I’ll sign something.  You don’t have to talk to me.”

Hurt and angry, Lance’s shoulders dropped.  He looked over at Hunk on the sidelines, who dropped his gaze off to the side in sympathy with a slow blink, wandering off to give him some space.  Lance turned to look at Keith.

“What the hell is your problem, man!  Is it gonna KILL you to TALK to people?”

“Shut up!  I talk to people!”

“Like who, your MOM?”

“My mom’s DEAD, Asshole!”

Lance froze.

“Uhm...  I’m..--”  Lance began, but Keith interrupted him.

“Don’t.  Don’t even.  I don’t want your sympathy ok?  I just.. want these damned skates off.”

“Uhh..  yeah.”  Lance stammered a bit, and as Keith sat down on the curb of the rink, Lance knelt down and began to help him with the laces.  Keith was feeling too distant and emotionally tired to argue over getting assistance.  And Lance came from such a large family, he didn’t think twice about tying or untying someone else’s laces.  He did it all the time.

They both sat there quietly.  Basically everyone else had gone by now, and it was quiet.

“Emma wasn’t a bad book, by the way.”  Lance offered, changing the subject, almost unable to sit in the awkward silence.

“Yes it is.”  Keith responded, and then Lance smiled up at him.

“What?  You read it?  You didn’t even have to!  And you were making fun of me?”

“I read a lot of things, ok!  And I wasn’t making fun of you!  I was stating facts!  What do you have against me anyway??”

Lance blinked, as if the realization had just hit him.  
“I don-...  nothing.  Nothing...”  And they were silent, looking at one another.

At which, Keith tilted his head curiously, studying Lance’s expression. He seemed genuine...  and that’s when Keith realized, as the other knelt down beside him..  he didn’t have any version to it at all.  -Which he thought was odd.  
In fact, Lance could come even closer, and Keith realized he wasn’t opposed to that.  How close was he comfortable with him being??

And then, blushing lightly, Keith drew back, pulling himself up further onto the ground, and taking his laces into his own hands, avoiding eye contact.  
“I’ve got to go.”  He said, and as soon as he was able to push the skates in Lance’s direction, Keith set off, hopping as he got his second boot on, tugged his coat tighter around himself, and went straight home. - Leaving Lance a little dumbfounded.  When he looked up and met Hunk's gaze, the larger of the two smiled at him.  
".. What?"  He asked.

_____________________________

Bleary eyes opened as Keith’s alarm went off in his room.  Awkwardly he shifted toward it, reaching up and shut it off before falling back against the pillow and pulling the blanket up to his shoulder with a sigh.

It was too cold to be awake today.  
But the pillow was soft, and the perfect temperature.  The blanket quickly began to pull the cold air away from him again.  And then there were images in his mind.  A warm fire.  Someone beside him.  
With his eyes closed, Keith lightly stretched his body against the mattress, feeling the blankets faintly caress his skin.  And he thought about someone holding him close, someone’s hand sliding down his spine and up into the back of his shirt, pressing firmly into his lower back to pull him closer.  To keep him tight against themselves.  His breathing deepened, and everything grew warmer.  He thought about wrapping his arms around this person, tilting his head to hungrily press a warm, open kiss to the corner of their mouth-...

“Keith!!  Wake up!  Don’t you have class today??  You’re gonna be late!”    
Pidge was the last voice he was expecting to hear in that moment, and dark lilac eyes flashed open, utterly frozen and embarrassed.  The moment definitely passed, and in his panic, Keith was up, dashing purposefully across the house in his red boxers and the shirt he had on yesterday.  Pidge covered her eyes.  
“Ugh!  Put some clothes on, Dude!”  She protested, and then turned back to gathering up her papers and textbooks to put in her backpack.

Keith only grunted in vague awareness as he briskly grabbed a pair of pants hanging up to dry in the bathroom, and hopped a little on one foot as he pulled them on, grabbing his boots and heading out the door.  Sam’s voice was heard from the staircase as Keith had one foot already outside.  
“Hey..!  Keith, everything alright Son?”  

“He’s late for class.”  Pidge answered for him, and Keith only nodded genuinely at his stepfather, and suddenly he heard Pidge cry out, “Keith!  Heads up, Dude!”  And quickly, he caught his forgotten book in his hands.

“Thanks, Pidge!”  He expressed, giving a small salute to her with the book in hand, and then he was off.

________________________________________

Once he was at his desk finally, Keith sighed.  Because he ran, he had made it just before the professor could walk in as Keith sat there trying to pant quietly as he caught his breath.

Lance had seen him come in.  Curiously, he peered over his shoulder as the guy passed him, and took his usual seat, a few rows back, right against the wall, panting, looking like he had just rolled out of bed.  Was he sweating?    
Suddenly, Keith made eye contact and in a small fluster, Lance swiftly righted himself, facing forward.  Hunk snickered sitting beside him.  
“Ptsch.  Shut up dude.”  Lance told him, though he was smiling faintly.

The instructor sat on his desk, and opened his copy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.    
“Alright class.”  He began casually, not bothering to lift his eyes from the text.  “We’re about 3/4ths of the way through, if you’ve been keeping up.  Might I remind you that it’s not enough to do the reading, I have to _know_ you’ve done the reading.  And the best way for me to know that is for you to participate in the discussion. -Keith!”

 _Shit._  
“Uh!  -Yeah!  Yes Sir.”  There was light snickering, but the professor continued.

“Can you tell me who the monster is, in this narrative?”  But Lance interrupted.

“Oh come on, you give him the easy question?  The monster’s the guy he made in the lab!”  And Keith interrupted Lance.

“But Victor Frankenstein made the creature, set it loose on the world, and didn’t take responsibility for the life he created, even when he knew he was dangerous. -Especially when he knew he was dangerous.”  The professor lifted his eyes at Keith and Lance without moving his head and returned his gaze to the text.

“Keith makes a good point.”  He said, and Lance rolled his eyes and made a vaguely exasperated gesture at Hunk, -who shrugged and turned to listen.  The professor continued, looking at Keith again.  “So you think Victor is the monster?”

At this, Keith leaned back in his chair a little, folding his arms and looking at the wall.  
“I don’t know.  I just think he’s a coward who can’t own up to his own mistakes and keeps justifying things, hoping it will go away on its own.  But he’s not innocent.”  Again, Lance jumped in.

“The monster is a cold-blooded murderer!  The doctor never told him to do any of that stuff!  How is any of that even remotely his fault!  He had no idea his creature would be a freaking psychopath!”  Keith turned his chin skeptically away from Lance though he kept his eyes on him, his brow lowered a bit.

“And you think when he came into the world, he was a psychopath?”

Silence.  
And soon the professor interjected, in a dull tone.  
“Well, class, this has been an interesting discussion.  Keith, Lance, I’m putting you two together for the final presentation this semester, once we finish the novel.”

“What??”  Both of them chimed in unison.  Lance continued, gesturing next to his friend beside him with both hands.  “But I was gonna work with Hunk!  We already picked an author!  We were folding paper cranes for two days!”

“That’s a shame.”  Said the professor, obviously apathetic.  “Hunk is working with Shay.”  He pointed with his pen over to the corner, where a stocky and very pleasant-looking girl in green overalls and light brown hair smiled shyly and waved at Hunk, who mirrored the smile and waved back with a small happy hum.

“I don’t mind.  You can use the cranes.”  Said Hunk.

_______________________________

Outside the class, Lance approached Keith and gave him a small shove on the shoulder just to get his attention.

“Hey!  What are you doing?  Trying to make me look like an idiot?”  Turning to face him, Keith heard this and his expression flat-lined with a slow blink.

“I could answer that, but you’re not going to like it.”

An angry, exasperated noise left Lance and his threw his hands in the air.  “Was that a jab?  What the hell is your problem!  I thought we were cool after the skating thing in the park!”

“I didn’t say I had a problem with you!”  Keith corrected him.

“You’re calling me an idiot!”

“That’s not what I said!”  Keith answered, but Lance squinted angrily, pointing a finger into Keith’s face, his lower jaw pressed forward.

“But you’re thinking it!”  This made Keith angry.  Vibrant eyes narrowed at the other boy and he spoke, with obvious restraint.

“You’re going to want to get that finger out of my face.”  He said.  But even though Lance was a little scared, he felt the need to overcompensate, to hide it with;

“Why?  What are you going to do about it?”  He asked.  

“I said.  Get out of my **face**!”  Came the reply.

“Make me!”  Shouted Lance, and suddenly, Keith gripped both sides of Lance’s jacket, and briskly strode to the wall, pinning him against it, teeth bared, and glaring down into his eyes with intensity.  Silence...

Lance’s ocean blue eyes fluttered, shoulders back, hands up.  
“Ok!  Ok, ok ok!  Look, I’m sorry!  Just don’t--”  He turned his head and flinched his eyes shut.

Keith paused.  Did Lance really think he would hurt him?  Keith hadn’t even thought it through.  He just wanted to make him stop.  The anger melted away from within him, and Lance felt those hands ease their grip on his jacket, still holding on.  Sure, Keith had been in fights before, especially as a kid, but..  it had been a while, and Lance wasn’t even attacking him..  
Now Lance looked slightly terrified.  Of Keith.  He felt his heart sink a little at the fact, jewel-tone eyes wandered off to the side, vacantly.  Looking back at the man it his hold, Keith’s gaze sullenly moved across Lance’s features..

For some reason, he wanted to..  comfort him.  Keith wanted to apologize for scaring him, and hug him close, rub his back and tell him everything’s ok...

But that would be weird... right?  Lance probably hated him.  He’d probably push him away.  Keith wouldn’t blame him if he did.    
But he could do the first bit, at least.  
Keith’s hands pulled away, his vision still off...  He wanted to speak, but it was harder than he thought, for some reason.

“S-..  sorry..”  He muttered softly, and lowered his head.  
Suddenly, Lance grabbed him, and held him tightly.  
Eyes widened.  It took Keith a second to realize this wasn’t a counter attack.  This was..  well he wasn’t sure what this was.  “Uhm...”

And then Lance drew back.  His eyes looked misty and he gave a loud sniff, rubbing his nose against his sleeve with a forced casualness, and avoiding eye contact.

“Whatever, man.”  He said,  And they stood there a moment, neither of them wanting to leave..

“Do you...”  Keith began, and paused, trying again.  “You wanna get some lunch?”

“Yeah!”  Lance’s enthusiasm startled them both a little, and then seeing each other’s expressions, they smiled.  Keith dropped his gaze with an amused little grin and a breathy chuckle.  Lance’s heart skipped a beat with some short, open laughter, watching him.  “Shut up, dude, I’m just hungry, ok?”  But smiles continued, and they began to walk to the food court.

__________________________

After a little while, it seemed so easy to talk to each other.  Keith was eating, listening, interjecting with questions now and then.  Lance was explaining with animated hand gestures, and expressions that made Keith laugh quietly from time to time.  Lance wasn’t sure if he should feel embarrassed or proud of that response, but Keith seemed happy.  He'd take it.

“Yeah.  Two older brothers, one older sister.  Two of them are married, his wife is pregnant, an’ the others have three kids.  And I got another two little sibs at home.  Lookit.”  Lance said, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and showing Keith the picture of his family.

“That’s a lot of people.”  Keith said, looking it over.  “Is that one your mom?”  He asked, pointing.  

“What??  Pfft.  No, that’s Rosalie, I don’t hafta listen to her.”  But his gaze shifted as if he was afraid of the remote possibility his older sister might hear him.  He put his wallet away and asked, leaning forward toward Keith with interest.  “So what’s your story man?  I mean, I know a little bit, but.. you got siblings?  A dad?”

“You can say it.  My mom died three years ago.”  Keith shook his head as his eyes wandered.  “It was so stupid.  Boring.  A drunk driver.  She deserved better.”  That was a little confusing for Lance.  Did Keith just say his mother should have died in a more interesting way?  He gave a sharp shake of his head to clear it.  He couldn’t imagine ever losing his mom, and he couldn’t begin to understand how people might cope with that.  And he asked, 

“What about the rest of your family?”

“Mom married Sam just the year before the crash.  He’s my step-dad.  Pidge is his daughter.  She’s a good kid.”  He added with a faint half smile, which made Lance smile unknowingly.  He’d never met anyone like Keith before.  How could he be so scary, and still..  so genuine.  So vulnerable.  He wanted to protect him, somehow.

“And Sam’s a good guy?  Ya still live with them?”  He asked, and Keith gave a slow nod and took another bite of his sandwich.  

“I don’t like to be a burden.  I got a job to help pay the mortgage and utilities and food and stuff.”

“Yeah.”  Lance answered, suddenly feeling bad that he knew his mother would feed him and keep him under her roof as long as he’d let her, without giving a thought to the cost.  Maybe Lance had never thought of the cost... maybe he took her for granted...  
Suddenly, he stood up, both hands lightly slammed against the table, and Keith almost fell out of his chair.

“What!!  What is it!”  Keith asked, blinking.

“Come with me!  This will be great!  Come on!”  And grabbing his backpack over one shoulder, Lance waited and gave Keith’s wrist a small tug before going on ahead of him.  Keith followed.

“Where are we going??”  Which was only answered with 

“You’ll see.”  At which, Keith rolled his eyes.

________________________________

After a while, crossing a busier street, and ducking behind a few houses, and trudging through a small cluster of trees, Lance revealed a large, frozen pond.  Not large enough to be a lake, not small enough to really be a pond.  But it was frozen through, with snow dusting the top of it, hardly visible from the road.

“How did you find this place?”  Keith asked, coming down closer to the shore and dropping his backpack on the ground.

“Shh.  It’s a secret.  My dad takes me fishing here sometimes.  I think it might be illegal, but..  meh~.”  He gave a small shrug, and Keith raised an eyebrow, half smiling.  “Anyway, it’s frozen this time of year.  You know what that means...?”  He cooed a little, turning to Keith with one brow raised and a grin on his face.

Keith turned his chin away, unsure, until it clicked and he raised both hands.    
“Ohhh no.  No, no.  I’m not skating on that.”  

“Aw, come on!  I do it all the time, and I’m fine, look at me!  It’s the middle of October, it’s gotta be so frozen the fish are like they’re in cryptonite.”

“You mean carbonite.”

“Ehn whatever, same thing.”  Lance gave a shrug with one shoulder as he stepped down onto the ice and reached for Keith with one hand.  He grinned and gave a small gesture with the side of his head.  “Come on.”

“Lance...”  Keith’s tone was almost warning as his gaze hesitated.    
But that tone in Keith’s voice was intoxicating, and Lance couldn’t wait any more.  He took hold of Keith’s hand and pulled him forward onto the ice.

It wasn’t as bad as the rink, and Keith was wearing his boots, and the snow gave them a little bit more traction, but..  it was still ice.  With eyes widening at intervals, Keith was pulled out long the surface and awkwardly coasted, legs straight, feet apart, and hands raised, ready to catch himself if he fell.  Lance happily ‘skated’ around him, hands demurely clasped behind his back.

“Come on, man, bend your knees!”

“Ok, ok!  I got it!”  Came Keith’s response.

“Now put your weight on one foot and urge yourself into it.  Man you’re really bad at this.”  But they were both smiling and Keith answered, doing his best not to fall.

“Shut up..!”  Lance laughed lightly and then carefully took one of Keith’s hands, and began to pull him forward again.

“Woah woah woah, what are you doi-- Aah!”  Keith slipped, -but instead of falling on the ground, Lance tugged him swiftly forward and grabbed him tightly around the waist to catch him.    
Peacefully, they continued to coast along the ice from the momentum, a warmth building up inside them both.  
The visions of his morning daydream began to play over in Keith’s mind with a slow blink over Lance’s shoulder.

Lance continued to hold him, long after they had coasted to a stop.  He never wanted to let go.  Keith’s frame felt so good pressed against his own.  With one hand he could feel Keith’s strong back muscles and his narrow waist, and he blushed, but tightened his embrace with his other arm.

Keith’s face began to heat up too.  Weren’t they on ice?  Why was it so warm all the sudden?  
They both stood there in silence.  After a time, Keith began to move, but there was a small slip, and Lance gripped him in his arms more tightly to steady him.  Without thinking, and very near to Keith’s ear in a warm gentle tone, he spoke to him,  
“I’ve gotcha.”  And it was as if so many things locked up inside of Keith were suddenly opened.  His face reddened, his heart beat deep and slow and strong.  His posture went slack as he leaned against the one holding him.  Keith gently wrapped his arms around Lance and then secured them snugly about the other’s frame.  Could Lance feel his heart beat?  It was so loud.  Should he be embarrassed?  Keith swallowed.

Pulling back a little, without relying too much on shifting his weight, his breath slow and deep, Keith looked at Lance with a half-lidded gaze, so close, scanning his face as their breath visibly mingled, floating on the air, their noses almost touching..  Lance began to lean in, as if to kiss-

But Keith pressed on the other’s shoulders.  
“Lets-... I gotta get back home.”  He said, looking off that direction, still remaining in Lance’s arms.

Lance wanted to lean in.  He wanted to kiss that fair skin, rosey with the cold.  He wanted to slowly stroke along Keith’s back and feel the pressure press that body against his own... but he paused.  With a small shake of his head, he pulled himself out of it.  But the imagery was so good, and Keith, the one he’d had his eye on now for months.. he was in his arms..

Lance took a deep breath and let it out through an O shape of the lips, and slowly, he eased up his hold on Keith, and carefully guided him back to the shore.  He was hardly able to look at him without the thought of touching.  
But he could wait.  If Keith needed some time to think, he could wait.  It was still a truly beautiful day.

 _Damn_.  Lance thought suddenly as he watched Keith’s figure leave.    
“I should probably tell him...”

_________________________

If Lance had been obsessed with Keith before, now he was consumed entirely.  He skipped to the table that morning, and kissed his mom.  He kissed his sister.  He kissed his brother, and he took his seat, wiggling and humming and smiling, like a child on Christmas Eve.

Lance was typically very animated and upbeat on a regular day, but this morning, his mother hummed a giggle at this jubilant behavior as she reached over him with her pan and spatula to put eggs on his plate.

“Someone is very happy this morning.”  She spoke in her somehow musical and always welcoming Spanish accent.

“Yes I am!”  Lance replied with a slight lifting of his chin, happy that she noticed.  And then he paused, and looked at her as she leaned over him.  Her full, dark curly hair falling over her shoulder, the smell of comfort and love and safety that followed her everywhere she went.  
What could it possibly be like to lose all of that...?

Lance suddenly shifted up out of his chair awkwardly, and grabbed his mother and hugged her.  The pan and spatula in her hands raised up and out of the way of people awkwardly, but she blinked and smiled at this.

“Te amo.”  He said in a warm register.  His siblings stopped their shuffling at and around the table and watched in potential concern.  But when they realized everything was alright, the volume in the room escalated, and his older brother cooed at Lance, lightly knocking on his back with his hand, teasing him good-naturedly.    
Lance laughed, and finally let her go.  And as he drew back, he was surprised to see his mother’s lovely brown eyes were misty, and she reached up to softly cup his cheek as she looked at him.

“My baby boy..”  She said, with a smile touched by more appreciation than she ever really hoped for.    
After a moment, she briskly kissed his forehead, and pushed him to sit back down, patting his shoulder and pushing his chair in, as she pointed to his plate.  
“Eat!  You’re too skinny!”  Smiling, and a little embarrassed, Lance whined at her in mild protest, and shared brief glances with his siblings before he dug in.

______________________________

At work, luckily, Keith had avoided being on the register and he was able to stock some shelves and maintain a few displays.  The memory of being on the ice, in Lance’s arms, played over and over in his mind, bringing a warmth to his chest and his face that was embarrassing to have in this place.  
He swallowed, sitting lazily on the floor as he used the price gun to stick labels on cans, and boxes, almost running on autopilot again, and thinking about how Lance had leaned in to kiss him.  
Keith had never kissed anybody before.  Wasn’t that supposed to mean something?    
Did it mean something to Lance, or was he like this with anyone who would let him?  Logically, Keith just had no way of knowing, and that disturbed him.  Especially considering how much he wanted to kiss him back, to touch his hair.. to look deeply into those blue, blue eyes, let his fingertips coast over that warm, toasty-colored skin...

“Keith.  Is everything alright here?”  Asked Shiro, and Keith, blinking as he was drawn out of his fantasy, looked at Shiro with a faint blush.  Shiro picked up a box.  “You know these are ten cents more than the soup.”  He pointed out, and with a small huff of an exhale, Keith dropped his head and nodded.  He knew that was a mistake.  His head had gotten away from him.  It may not have been a huge deal, but,  
Dammit, he hated to disappoint Shiro.  The guy had known him since he was small, he had been there at his mother’s funeral.  Shiro was almost like a brother to him, in a lot of ways, -a father in others.  Mostly a friend.

Shiro came forward, subtly dropping his head to one side, brows raised in concern, and trying to catch Keith’s expression.  
“It’s ok.”  He offered sincerely.  “You just seem off lately.  Is everything alright?  Anything I can help with?”  After a moment he added, “You can talk to me.”

“I’m fine.”  Came Keith’s usual response, and Shiro’s shoulders relaxed somewhat, still earnestly studying the other’s face.  Patiently, Shiro stood, waiting for more information if Keith was willing to part with it.  This section of the store was quiet this time of day, and fairly private.  Rolo was the only other employee on the clock, and he was on register at the front.  After a moment Keith sighed.

“... How can you tell if..  if someone likes you?”  He asked finally, and turned over his shoulder to look up at Shiro.  Who smiled.  
But seeing that smile, Keith cracked an embarrassed smirk at one side of his face and quickly turned away again, avoiding his gaze.

“Is that what’s going on.”  Shiro marveled a little.  “I have to keep remembering you’re not 12 anymore.”  And Keith scoffed a little.  And then he was confused by Shiro’s words.  “Well... sometimes I admit, I don’t see you as a child at all anymore.”  Which left Keith wondering what he meant by that.  Keith had turned 20 that year, and Shiro was six year older.  Growing up, it always felt like the guy was so much older, he was in a different world, -the adult world.  But being 20 himself now he realized how silly that was.  Is that what Shiro meant?  
But his older friend only shook his head and continued.  
“Without knowing more, I’m afraid I can’t really help you.”  He said, crouching down and placing a hand on the back of Keith’s shoulder and giving it a light squeeze.  “Just take your time.  Be careful.  And communication is key.”  And with a small pat, Shiro was up again and back on the job.

“Communication is key...”  Repeated Keith quietly to himself.  And then he thought out loud.  “Except every time I talk to the guy we explode like a baking soda volcano...”  He sighed.  Maybe that was a bad sign...

_______________________________

When Keith finally returned home, he set his things on the hangers and kicked off his boots, calling to Pidge without looking up,  
“There’s a sale on peanut butter.  I thought you’d want to kno--”  But when he lifted his head, he realized she wasn’t there.  Jewel-tone eyes began to wander the house.  Where was she?  She should have gotten back from school hours ago.  
“Pidge?”  He called out, beginning to walk around, through the livingroom, and then up the stairs, “Pidge?”  He even pulled back the shower curtain, but the house was dead, silent.  She didn’t have a car to check in the driveway, she always walked home.  But then where was she?  Had something happened to her?  He checked his phone, but there was nothing from her.  No missed calls, no messages.

Now he was starting to get concerned.  As he tried to call her phone, he continued wandering through the house, and suddenly heard 'So Long and Thanks for all the Fish', - Pidge’s ringtone.  The phone was stuffed between the cushions of the couch where she usually sat with her laptop.  He couldn't reach her.  Keith’s heart rate escalated, and he began to quickly throw his things back on, taking her phone with him, and decided to try to retrace her steps, back to the school, and find out where she was, or what might have happened to her.    
_Shit if anything happened to her..._  he winced his eyes shut, thinking of how he would tell Sam.  He had visions of his mother in the hospital.    
The world was a dangerous place.  Would it really take Pidge too?

And then he crashed into someone and they both fell tumbling to the ground.  
“Keith!  You big knucklehead!  Watch where you’re going!”  And then her expression lifted, and she her arm shot out toward him.  “Ah!  You found my phone, where was it??”

“Pidge!!”  Keith got up and grabbed her tight, his heart still pounding, but the cold acidic feeling running down the back of his neck was gone.

“What are you--  Keith, what’s gotten into you??”  she grumbled, pushing on him a little bit, but he held her tight a moment before pulling back and holding her arms, leaning down to look at her.

“Where were you??  I got home and you weren’t there!  I didn’t know if something happened to you!”  But Pidge only blinked at him, and draw away, feet firmly planted on the ground.

“I was right outside in the back measuring my pumpkin!  Jeez, Keith, I was only gone for ten minutes!  I never even left the property!  You need to calm down!”

Keith huffed.  She had no idea how worried he was!  
“Things happen, Pidge!  How was I supposed to know!  What if something **did** go wrong!  Should I be sitting around at home assuming you don’t need help while God knows what happened to you??”

“Keith, you’re overreacting!”

“No, YOU don’t know how dangerous the world is, Pidge!  What if someone jumped you on your way home, hours ago!  I’d NEVER be able to find you!  What if you were hit, and lying in the street somewhere, needing medical attention!  I came home and you were gone!  You could have been anywhere!”  And then louder,    
“I can’t lose you too--!! ...”  And he paused, his voice having broken at his last words.  His eyes began to grow blurry with tears, but he looked away, silent, his fist tight and bouncing idly at his side, not wanting to acknowledge these feelings.

“Keith...”  She said gently, watching him with concern.

“I’m fine.”  He said, and started back into the house without looking at her.  Pidge followed quietly, confused and feeling guilty, even though it didn’t make sense to.  She just wanted Keith to be ok.

____________________________

Inside, the two of them were still rattled, more quiet than usual, but generally going about their business.  Keith started to feel guilty.  She hadn’t even gone anywhere.  Why didn’t he think to check the back yard?  
With a heavy sigh, he rubbed his palm down one side of his face and then he startled when his phone rang.  Out of sorts, he brought the phone to his ear only half paying attention to it.  Pidge was back on the couch in her usual place, pulling the fuzzy green blanket over her folded legs.  The phone said, 

“Hey it’s me.”  Keith processed this only on a very basic level and responded,   
“Me, who.”

On the other end, Lance, angrily pressed his lips tight together and didn’t answer right away.  He refused to spell out his name again.  
“ME.  It’s ME.”

“Lance!”  Keith blurted out as it hit him.  “Look, I’m sorry, I’m just a little out of it.”  Pidge’s ear perked, but she didn’t move her head as she listened.

“You want to what?  Right now?”  Keith looked at the window, it was already getting a lttle dark out.  And frankly, he wanted to be around Pidge until he was able to calm down.  
“Uhh... I don’t know..”  Keith said.

“Why?  What’s the problem?”  Lance asked on the other end.  His little brother was trying to tease him, but Lance “psst” at him and waved him away, moving the phone against his ear to regain focus and listen.

“Isn’t it getting late?”  Keith asked, and Lance couldn’t believe it.  

“What are you talking about?  It’s only seven o’clock!  What are you, an 80yr old man??”  Keith huffed in amusement, and dropped his head a little, smiling.  He answered in a casual tone,

“Alright, alright.  I’ll be right there.  Yeah, I’ll see you in a sec.  K.  Bye.”

“Who’s Lance~..?”  Pidge said, smirking a little bit, but still not making eye contact.  Her tone was just slightly more subdued than it usually would have been, but she still wanted to tease him.

“He’s just a guy I know, ok?  He’s in my Lit class.  I’ll be back in an hour or two.  I’ve got my phone with me.”

“Alright, don’t get pregnant.”  She said and immediately dropped to her lap snickering.

“That’s hysterical.  You come up with that all by yourself?”  Keith let out a breathy chuckle as he made his way out the door.  “Alright.  See ya Pidge.”  And he left.

_______________________________

It was darker out than it was the first time Lance brought him to the lake, and everything looked different.  But Keith paused, trying to clear his mind, and recall, instinctively, which direction they had gone, and when, and ignoring how different his surroundings seemed in the dim light, he eventually found his way back.

Lance was already there.  His things were laid down on the shore and he was already out on the ice, skating around like a doll on a music box.    
Why had Keith agreed to come here again?  He sucked at this...

With a sigh, he advanced forward, and Lance, seeing him, called out happily, skating over to the edge to greet him.

“Hey!  What took you so long!”  He asked.  Keith answered,

“Hey it’s not my fault, everything looks different at night.”

“Sure, sure, excuses excuses.”  Lance teased a little, and then took Keith’s wrist, leading him out onto the ice.  Keith’s eyes widened a little, but he didn’t fight this.  “You’re stiff as a board, Dude, ease up a little.”  He told Keith, and the other attempted this, standing there on the ice by himself a moment, bending his knees, centering his weight..  
He moved one foot, and brought it back to himself without trouble.  
“There, you’re getting it..!”  Lance said encouragingly, and began his casual skating around.  

The next day, Keith continued to practice, awkwardly, bit by bit, until he could get from point A to point B and only need a little help stopping.  Lance continued to glide along the surface with increasing aptitude.  And then, picking up speed as he went by, he ducked his upper body, arms reached forward, one leg behind, and then jumped, landing on the other foot, and sailing along with a graceful spin.  Keith blinked at him.

“Wow.  You can do that?  I thought people only did that on TV.”

Lance beamed happily, answering in his forced casualness.  “Yeah, I can do it.  I’ve only been lutzing it up since I was 13.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not a word.”  Keith said, smiling.

“I’m pretty sure you don’t know whether it is, or isn't a word.”  Lance grinned back at him.

“Well, is it?”  Keith asked, and Lance rolled his eyes in avoidance and rubbed the back of his neck, changing the subject.

“Heyyyy look at you.  You haven’t even fallen on your ass yet.”

“Shut up.”  Keith laughed, and before he knew it, Lance was taking his hand and pulling him along again, slowly.  “Woah woah, what are you doing.”

“Hey relax.”  Lance answered, and then, pulling him a little closer, repeated his words from the day before.  “I’ve gotcha..”

Keith blushed.  His mind started to go fuzzy.  What had Shiro said?  Communication?  What the hell should he even say?

“Do you... kiss a lot of people?”  He said suddenly.  Lance blinked.  That was not the reaction he was expecting.

“Do I what??”  He looked at Keith in confusion.

“I’ve never..”  Keith’s gaze wandered off at the ice and squinted, finding this difficult to share.  “I’ve never kissed anybody before.”

Lance’s brows raised.  Keith was so attractive, he thought for sure this guy had been in a relationship or two before.    
“Are you serious?”

Now Keith was embarrassed.  His chin lowered subtly, skeptical of Lance’s reaction.  “Whatever.  It’s not a big deal.”  He said, trying to dismiss the conversation.

“Uhm.  Well..”  Lance began.  Blue eyes wandered over the trees.  “I mean I’ve been kissing people since I was in gradeschool...  Heh.”  Keith nodded, not really sure what to make of that.  Lance didn’t know what he was getting at either.  It took him a moment.  
“Are you...  ”  He started, and swallowed, hesitantly, recalling how Keith had wanted to wait.  Was this why?  “Do you think I would do this with just anybody...?”  Keith was silent, unsure how to answer that.  
The silence cut Lance somewhere in his chest, and he paused, quiet.

It wasn’t true.  Lance couldn’t remember feeling like this about anyone before.  There was a cute blonde last year that for about two weeks he thought was his soul mate, but once he got to know her, he realized how stupid he had been when she left him over a text, and went for Rolo.    
But this was different.  Sure, Keith was intoxicating to look at, and maybe they fought a lot..  and maybe Keith was a little scary and confusing sometimes, but... Lance could tell they had a special connection, in spite of all those things.  A connection he knew would be there, even if Keith wasn’t beautiful; even if it scared them both a little bit; it was there.  The more he got to know Keith, the more he wanted to know.. the more he wanted to share..

“Keith...”  Lance began, and bravely, he took the hand he had been guiding, and pressed it to his heart as he looked at him.  
“There’s... something I should tell you..”

Keith’s vibrant eyes openly searched Lance’s expression in the dimming light, curious and anxious.  
“... What is it?”

Lance lowered his head nervously, still holding Keith’s hand.  How could he even begin to have this conversation?  Would Keith push him away?  Should he wait?  He felt the nervousness building and his heart started to pick up in spite of him trying to reassure himself.  He couldn’t take it if Keith left him after he let him know..  
“I...”  He swallowed.  “I... I’ll just.. show you.  Ok...?”  And even though it was cold, Lance began to unzip his jacket, and took the hem of his shirt in his hand... He paused.. took a deep breath, and then lifted it.  Under each pectoral was a thin scar.

“You... had surgery?”  Keith asked, not really piecing things together.  “Do you have a health condition or something?”  Lance put his shirt back and down and shook his head.  Zipping his jacket back up.

“No, no, nothing like that.  I’m strong as a horse.”  He had to add, and tried to explain.  “It’s.. it’s like this..  see..”  Another sigh.  “I’m a man, but..  ”  He winced his eyes closed as he finished.  “That’s.. not what it says on my birth certificate..”

Keith’s shoulders dropped.  
“Wait, what?”  He asked, blinking.   _On his birth certificate.._ Keith thought.. _the scars on his chest_...  
“You’re...”  Keith raised a finger, and his brows as it dawned on him.  Pidge showed him an article about this once.  “You’re trans!”

Lance pulled both his hands to his face and nodded, rubbing against his palms to calm and to hide himself.

“Wow..”  Keith said, his line of sight wandering off across the lake thoughtfully.  He'd never met anyone who was trans before.  Not that he knew of, anyway.

Lance felt a mounting uneasiness.  His family accepted him.  Hunk accepted him.  But it suddenly felt so important to know... Did Keith accept him too..?

“Look.  Uhm..”  Lance began, avoiding eye contact as his fingers curled uneasily toward his heart.  “That..  that was kinda hard for me to say.  Can you just-...?”

“Huh?”  Keith was pulled out of his head by these words, and by the uneasiness of Lance’s expression.  He suddenly clued in to the other’s feelings, and expressed a simple, “Oh!”  before he awkwardly shifted his feet against the ice to close the gap between them, and finally, he put his arms around Lance, rubbing his back gently.  Obviously, Lance was concerned this information might put Keith off.  
“Hey.”  He said gently.  “You’re still you.”

Lance relaxed to this and closed his eyes.  Hesitant at first, he wrapped his arms around Keith, then securing them snugly about his ribs, and he sighed deeply, a light blush creeping across his face.  Warmth pooled in his gut and rose up through his chest as he held him tight.  Would he ever get used to this feeling?    
Meanwhile a certain level of curiosity occupied Keith’s mind, and his hands began to roam along Lance’s mid and lower back, up under his coat and his shirt...  His spine felt normal.. his muscles felt normal.. his warmth, his chest filling with air and receding again.. Keith thought too, that he could feel Lance’s pulse, faintly, or maybe it was his own, it was hard to tell..

Lance’s face felt like it was on fire as Keith stroked him.    
“Keith...”  He said quietly, which was answered with a simple,  
“Hm.”  And Lance continued.  “Do you..  like me..?”

“Yeah.”  Came the simple reply.  Lance’s heart leapt a little, but he tried to play it cool, his mouth muffled against Keith’s shoulder as they embraced.  He smiled.  

“Even if I’m an idiot?”  He asked with a smile, and Keith huffed a chuckle, still hugging him close.

“Shut up.”  He answered gently, smiling.  And when they drew back to look at each other, Lance’s eyes, deep and blue, traced over Keith’s features, relaxed, and open.  
Keith reached up and only hesitating a moment, he combed his fingertips along the side of Lance’s head.  His short brown hair was soft, surprisingly so, and Keith blushed a little as his eyes dreamily followed his fingertips.. his gaze lowered, half-lidded to the endearing curvature of Lance’s upper lip..  and then...

BAM!

Something slammed suddenly into the side of Keith’s head and sent him crashing, hitting his head against the wrong place on the ice, and briefly, he was knocked out cold.  

Up above them, from the line of trees was a group of three guys, -three that they could see from here.  The one in front started laughing, with his mouth open, turning to look at his friends and then back at Lance.  
“I got ‘im!  Haha!  Didja see that??”  Lance lowered his forehead, anger within him spiraling upward from his chest to his head.  His fists tightened.

“What the hell is your problem??  You hit him on purpose??”  The reply was insufferable, still laughing as if the words meant nothing to him, he answered.

“Yeah, Did you know Jesus hates gays??”  The other two were in hysterics.

Lance was shocked.  He, and his whole family were Catholic.  Were these assholes really going to hurt the person he loved this way, and then try to use his own religion to justify it?  Did they think this was a joke??  
And then he began to charge up the hill toward them.  Lance wasn’t the best fighter, but he’d sure as hell try.  He could put a dent in them at least.  He’d defend Keith with his life, if he had to.  
“AaaaGH!  I’m gonna KILL you!!”  His voice increased in volume as he came toward them.  But being the cowards they were, the boys immediately turned and began to run away, startled, but still chuckling.  Lance followed them a bit longer, ready to smash their heads against the ground until they cracked, but... Keith..

“Keith!”  He called out, turning around to go back and check on the other boy.  And then he froze.    
It was two in the afternoon..  Keith was out in the middle of the lake..   
The sun was beating down heavily on the ice, and had been for hours.  The hard impact of Keith having his skull slammed against the ice with that kind of force..  Lance could swear he heard and saw cracks forming in the surface..

 _Shit... shit, shit shit...  this can’t be happening.._  
He thought to himself.  And then, eyes scattering across the scene, he snatched up his phone and in a panic, dialed up his mom.

“I’m fine!  I’m fine!  It’s Keith!  He’s on the ice and I think it’s cracked!  He hit his head pretty bad--”  His voice broke.  Shit, what if Keith really injured himself?  His mom’s voice brought him back to the present moment, and Lance answered her, “Yeah, we’re at the lake!  Bring help!  Bring a rope.. something!”  And he hung up, and carefully, he decided to attempt to get to his unconscious friend.

Lying on his stomach, knowing that would be the best way to pull Keith up if -heaven forbid-, he actually did fall in.  
A great force of relief came over him as Keith groaned and began to lift his head off the ice and look around.  There was blood running down his nose, but, he was awake.  That was a very good sign.  
And then he froze, hearing the sound again.

“Keith!  Don’t move!”  
And then even though it didn't seem possible before, the sound grew much, much worse..  and Lance’s blood ran cold.  His eyes and his head suddenly felt detached from the rest of his being, as if they might float away.  None of this could be real.  None of this could be happening.  He couldn’t accept it.  
“K-Keith...”  He said in a soft mutter, reaching toward him even if he knew it was too far..  and then, one, two more cracking sounds..  and he was gone with a splash of ice water.

“KEITH!!”  Lance scrambled closer along the ground, knowing if he fell in as well, they were both doomed.  
Still on his stomach, he made it to the water, and reached in, calling out the other’s name.  He heard the ice cracking, and at some point he realized his face was wet with tears.  He couldn’t feel his arm anymore.  And then something tugged at him and he gasped.

“KEITH!  KEITH!  COME ON!”  He shouted, knowing no one could hear him.  And even though his arm was numb, he did the best he could, pulling the rest of his own body backward, and then, there was glossy black hair, and sputtering, and shivering.  
“I gotcha.  I gotcha, Buddy.”  Lance repeated, pulling the other boy onto the more solid ice toward the edge of the lake.  Keith’s lips were blue and he was having trouble breathing, shivering violently.  
Lance pulled off the other’s jacket and brought his freezing body against his own, holding him close as they both shivered.  Lance’s tears froze against his face where his cheek rested against the ice.  He continued muttering comforting words, doing his best to keep the other warm, and placed kisses to various places across Keith’s face.

“It’s ok.  It’s gonna be ok.  Mom’s on her way.  We’re gonna take you to the hospital.  I’m gonna be with ya every step of the way, ok?  I’m not gonna leave your side for a second, you got it?”  Teeth chattering, shivering uncontrollably, Keith nodded, and Lance’s chest felt a sudden easiness claim it.  Keith understood him.  Thank God.  
He pulled Keith’s freezing wet head to the crook of his neck, and pulled his jacket more tightly around them both.  Help was coming.  Everything was gonna be ok..

And soon, he heard his mother’s panicked voice, and his brother, and sirens.  Everything was sort of a blur as EMTs took Keith and wrapped a blanket around each of them and loaded them into the ambulance.  Lance waved quietly to his family as they called to him, ‘we’ll meet you there!’ and ‘good luck!’  
Keith was safe now.

As they were riding, Lance got out of the seat and climbed into the cot beside Keith, wrapping himself around him again.  
Eventually he heard Keith's frozen, shake-y voice ask,  
“What happened..?  How long was I out..?”  And Lance kissed his dark, wet hair.  
“Just a couple minutes.  Your shoulder shook a couple times, like your body was trying to reboot, and then you were up pretty quick.  Ya didn’t miss much..”  He didn’t want to talk about those assholes right now.  He just wanted to be with Keith.  He was too glad to know he was alright, and here in his arms.

_________________________________

Keith was soon released from the hospital, only suffering some minor hypothermia, a small concussion, and a bloody nose.

A few days later:  
On campus, in a grassy, flower-laden corner, Hunk sat with a cute girl in green overalls, as they giggled warmly, placing flowers in each other’s hair.  Hunk spoke to Lance on the phone in a blissful tone.  
“Yeah.  Yeah.  That’s great man, look I gotta go.”  And he hung up and smiled, turning to Shay and rubbing noses.

Inside Keith’s kitchen, Lance hung up the phone, he leaned the back of his hips casually against the counter top.  
“They’re so gross.”  He said with a smile, and Keith came to him, and pinning him against the counter, and wrapping his arms around him with a grin.  Keith bared his teeth, displaying a candy fireball.  With a smile, Lance whined, and lulled his head to one side, finally meeting Keith's gaze again.

“You think I can’t take it.”  Lance said, and Keith pulled the candy back into his mouth with a grin.

“I didn’t say anything.”  He said, and Lance exaggerated, “I practically drank habanero sauce out of my baby bottle, you think I can’t handle a fireball.”

Keith shook his head.  “I didn’t say you couldn’t handle anything.”  Still smiling, Lance squinted at Keith in mock anger, and then grabbed his face and kissed him.  Keith’s vibrant eyes flashed wide and then relaxed into this, kissing back with a warm hum, and placing a hand at the side of Lance’s head, letting Lance's short, velvety soft hair caress his fingertips..   
After a moment, Lance drew back, panting and bouncing a little.     
“It’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot!”  He spoke, animated waving a hand by his mouth and sticking out his tongue, and Keith laughed.  But quickly, Lance grabbed him again and continued the kiss, whining into it and bouncing until finally the coating wore off and everything was sweet, and comfortable.  Keith secured an arm low around Lance’s lower back, keeping him close.

“You guys are gross!”  Pidge complained, pulling the blanket over her head, to create her own little world for herself and her laptop.

With lazy smiles, they drew back, amused by Pidge’s comment, and then simply stood there, happy to look at each other.  Keith softly pressed his forehead against Lance’s, and Lance leaned into this, lightly rubbing noses.

Pushing gently past this, Lance embraced Keith with a hand pressed to the middle of his upper back and said softly by his ear.  
“... I love you.”  
Keith’s eyes widened suddenly.  Those words... it was as if he almost never expected to hear them again, even if he knew his sister loved him, and Shiro too, in their own ways..  
But Lance..

Keith’s arms tightened around the other, and softly gripped the back of his grey-blue shirt in his fists, as if he couldn’t hold Lance close enough.  
“I-..”  He struggled.  Why was it so hard to say..?  I-..”

“I know.”  Lance interrupted, tightening his arms around Keith as well.  And then it came out, like breathing.

“I love you.”  Keith said softly, almost a whisper.  And Lance smiled warmly, hearing this, closing his eyes and pressing his cheek against Keith’s head. He held him, softly, slowly, stroking down his back, idly, repeatedly.  The color rose in Keith’s face, relaxing into this, in a way he had only daydreamed about before.

Maybe the world was a dangerous place.  But today;  today was a beautiful day.

**Author's Note:**

> I just realized the animated gif I saw of Lance skating, that inspired this piece, is linked to a fic someone already did called 'On Thin Ice'.  
> It's a totally different story, but now I'm wondering if I should change the title of mine?  
> \--  
> I've changed it.


End file.
